Examples of Modification
An educational program for a student might include a combination of accommodations which includes modifications. For example, a student could be working on grade level learning outcomes in Physical Education and Health and Career Education and below grade level learning outcomes in Mathematics, all with adaptations while at the same time working on individualized learning outcomes that meet the student’s IEP goals in all other subjects. The individualized outcomes address functional life skills and foundational academic skills.
For students with special needs, modifications that consist of individualized learning outcomes or goals must be included in the IEP. Some further types of modifications include:
· Content and evaluation related to the course or subject but at a lower level of conceptual difficulty that is based on a student’s individualized outcomes or goals. When students do well on this especially designed material, they have a chance to feel successful. For example, while students in a Grade 3 class are researching for presentations on the solar system, a student with special needs in this class uses a computer to drag and click planets into a template of the solar system and learns to say the names of each planet. At the secondary level, a Grade 9 student with special needs learns how to count change and manage a personal budget while other students are introduced to algebraic expressions.
· Only portions of the learning outcomes are addressed so that a student may participate in the classroom and feel success even though they are working at a conceptual level significantly different from the other students. For example, in a science class a student with special needs learns to identify safe and dangerous chemicals used in the lab, while other students carry out a chemistry experiment.
· Although related to the outcomes of the curriculum, the goals for a student with special needs are significantly different. For example, while other students are learning how to read and respond to text in a Grade 4 classroom, a student with special needs is learning how to listen to stories at a pre‐primary level and when to turn the page at the appropriate time using assistive technology.
(Guide to Adaptations and Modifications, August 2009)
For students with special needs, modifications that consist of individualized learning outcomes or goals must be included in the IEP. Some further types of modifications include:
· Content and evaluation related to the course or subject but at a lower level of conceptual difficulty that is based on a student’s individualized outcomes or goals. When students do well on this especially designed material, they have a chance to feel successful. For example, while students in a Grade 3 class are researching for presentations on the solar system, a student with special needs in this class uses a computer to drag and click planets into a template of the solar system and learns to say the names of each planet. At the secondary level, a Grade 9 student with special needs learns how to count change and manage a personal budget while other students are introduced to algebraic expressions.
· Only portions of the learning outcomes are addressed so that a student may participate in the classroom and feel success even though they are working at a conceptual level significantly different from the other students. For example, in a science class a student with special needs learns to identify safe and dangerous chemicals used in the lab, while other students carry out a chemistry experiment.
· Although related to the outcomes of the curriculum, the goals for a student with special needs are significantly different. For example, while other students are learning how to read and respond to text in a Grade 4 classroom, a student with special needs is learning how to listen to stories at a pre‐primary level and when to turn the page at the appropriate time using assistive technology.
(Guide to Adaptations and Modifications, August 2009)